[SS] Loan Sharks

August 1st, 7:22am

"Onee-samma!"

A feminine voice echoed throughout the staircase hall just as a man crashed through one of the many doors that dotted the floors. For a moment he struggled to get off the ground, but the sound of giggling drove him forward towards the stairs with eyes filled with fear. It wasn't known who this man was escaping from but so early in a morning and what look liked an office building has given him a thought.

"It's not nice to abandon a cute girl you know?" the voice spoke once more, clearly spooking the man as they seemed to be closer each time and yet he held a brave smile. The thought he had was simple, it was almost rush hour according to the clocks and soon people would be flooding this building like locust and his pursuer wouldn't dare to risk exposure.

So it had left him with one optional choice and that was to head to the main lobby.

"Come on now! Rodney wants his money!" the girl spoke once more who seemed to be a floor above and the man took that moment to rush straight for the door leading to the main lobby. He had run almost nine floors to escape his pursuer, though it was clear he didn't know who, he pretty sure knew why considering his desperate dash.

He was the type of man who was able to slither his way out of almost anything, escaping when no one is looking and he borrowed money from the wrong man. He reached for the last door that would secure his freedom and in that fleeting moment of hope upon thinking he was going to escape his luck changed.

The ceiling seemed to have fallen through, spooking the man into tumbling backwards before falling to the ground. It would take a moment for him to realise what happened and he couldn't believe his eyes. It was a girl with slender legs wearing a large black hoodie meant for a man. She hid her face well and you could tell she had long black hair, but her features weren't so important compared to the large knife in her hand.

"Who are you?" the man asked in fear and frantically tried to look for a way out. Though the girl approached slowly, walking rather elegantly towards the fly caught in her web. She carried herself so well, it was clear she has done this many times and one more wouldn't be any different. She knelt down towards the man and looked straight into his eyes.

This allowed the man to see the beautiful face beneath the hood, the girl had fair skin and long black hair with violet eyes which were so calm and yet still inspired fear in him.

"Rodney's patience! And its wearing thin." the girl spoke mockingly while moving closer to him, and the man attempted to crawl backwards before hitting the wall closing his escape.

It was that moment he realised that it was all over.

"Fine! Fine! I'll pay you the money just don't.." he pleaded with the girl who after a brief moment of silence gave a bone-chilling stare and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Thank you, Onee-sama."

She would get what was owned and after ten minutes she would leave the building long before anyone else had entered. She had tricked the man this entire time and changed the clocks throughout the building. This had lead to him making a decision that she predicted and getting caught in the web of her own design.  

Though she couldn't make too much noise, she would leave him a reminder, something to remember her the next time she comes calling. Now back on the streets, she headed towards District 15 thinking it was best to get some breakfast and to do a little light shopping.

Though on her way she would get a call and from a person called Rodney.

"Hello Rodney! What else can Rinrin do for you today?"

August 1st, 4:13am

Aiko exited a metal door out into a dark alleyway. The building she had just exited was the base of the people she had just completed a job for. It was not supposed to have gone so late. The job had been a simple one, the people who had hired her had a van they didn't want anyone to be able to trace while they roamed around doing who knows what. The entire interior of the van had been replaced with what looked like computers and monitoring equipment and Aiko had simply been sitting in the middle of the van messing up signals... for 18 hours. She was so tired it was all she could do to keep walking straight.

She was on her way back to the Tokiwadai dorm. She had on her classic overlong sleeved Tokiwadai winter uniform along with a small backpack holding some other clothes. Heading back to the dorm it was important to have the uniform on or else the dorm mistress would be furious... not that she wasn't already going to be because of the time Aiko was returning. The other clothes of course were for the job she just completed. It wouldn't do any good to be seen in her Tokiwadai uniform associating with people like that.

As she walked Aiko noticed something... A kind of low growling sound. It took but a moment to realize that this sound was coming from her stomach. Aiko sighed, there wasn't going to be anywhere open for food this early... not that she had any money to buy food with in the first place. Sure she had just completed a job, but she had been paid for that one a few days in advance which of course meant that all that money had been spent a few days in advance as well.

Aiko turned out of the alley and down the sidewalk. She walked a few blocks before crossing the street and entering a small park with a few benches. At this point Aiko could barely move and sitting sounded so nice. It couldn't hurt to take a seat for a few minutes right? Aiko sat on the bench and was asleep in seconds. She was so tired in fact that she didn't even notice when she slid off the bench and rolled herself into the middle of the small path that cut through the park.

District 15, 8:18am

No matter how confident she felt about her ability to undertake missions, she still had to be careful. There was much folly in being too overconfident and she had often gone out of her way to ensure she gets the advantage when facing adversaries. In this case, she has been out of action for over a month and not only was this to flex her muscles but it was also about fixing her wounded pride.

She had a balance to hit and that was cementing her control on the circle of influence she had before that fateful night and while also making sure she doesn't attract too much attention. Thankfully her past actions had made this all possible and only requires a little legwork since she was working on her own.

Though at the moment she was focused on doing some light shopping and getting something to eat.

So under the cover of her black hoodie, she would hop over rather quickly towards district 15, having taken a pass across the street she would be close to the nearest restaurant once she headed straight through the park.

Though making that decision would give her surprise and make her react accordingly.

"Crap!" Rin only just briefly noticing her own brother walking through the park, had made her leap off the main path. Even if he was walking a completely different direction, she couldn't take the risk. She would quickly hide in the bush and popping her head through it to watch Taichi from a distance.

"He seems a little tired? I wonder what he has been up to this past month?" Rin lamented the fact she wasn't able to keep track of her brother's activities since she was knocked out of the game. While this could have been a long-awaited reunion, she couldn't risk even been seen with him. She had to keep his distance away from the sort of world she walks in and only for his well-being.

Even if she misses doting on her younger brother, this wasn't the time for it. Though she had to comment on the likely hood one would bump into their only family member in Academy city. This made Rin thought for a moment about buying a ticket for the Jumbo draw which only happens five times a year.

As she thought about this she would take the small path through the park, so to avoid bumping into anyone she might know and only to fall over something immediately. She would crash into the ground, but her instincts would allow her to recover quickly and turned around while reaching for one of her many knives hidden on her person.

While her reaction to being prepared to strike was instinctive, it was clear what she tripped over was no danger. She was actually bewildered in what she was seeing, why would a Tokiwadai girl be sleeping in the park? This had peaked her curiosity so much so, that she didn't realise she had already made her way to the sleeping beauty and started to poke her with a stick she found on the ground.

"Hey there little girl? Comfortable are we?"

Aiko lay on the ground sleeping, the warm pavement like a soft mattress to her tired body. For several hours Aiko slept soundly. That is, until a foot came crashing into her side, followed shortly after by the somewhat loud sound of someone crashing into the ground. This by itself however was not enough to wake Aiko from her much deserved rest. It was not until she was being prodded by a stick that she eventually and reluctantly opened her eyes.

The first thing she noticed was it was bright, the glare from the sun forcing her to squint for a moment before her eyes finally adjusted to her location. Speaking of which... where was she? She sat up on her knees and looked around. Trees, grass, a small path, a girl in a black hoodie holding a stick, a bench... THAT'S IT! It all came back to her after seeing the bench. She'd taken a seat for a moments rest and she must've fallen asleep. Honestly Aiko wasn't surprised, with how tired she was just a few hours ago she could have fallen asleep anywhere. Wait a minute... there was something in that list that wasn't there when I fell asleep

Aiko spun her head back around to look up at the hooded girl with the stick, springing to her feet, her pavement nap giving her some much needed energy. The girl in the hoodie looked to be older than Aiko but not too much older, a few years at most, and had long black hair. Before she said anything to this stick wielding older girl, Aiko noticed a problem that needed to be remedied quickly before her arms melted in their floppy sleeves. The ground she had been laying on had been in the shade of a nice tree, however upon standing up, she was no longer shaded and was greeted by the full force of the sun's summer heat. Aiko quickly threw up a small shell to block out the heat from the sun. While the girl next to her certainly wouldn't have seen the shell activate, and may not have noticed the slight tingling feeling as the shell was created she would definitely notice the quick drop in temperature from the humid 30° heat to the still humid but much more reasonable 20°.

It was only now with this task done that Aiko decided to finally say something to this girl in front of her. However as soon as Aiko opened her mouth to speak, her empty stomach decided to speak first.

GROOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLL

Aiko's stomach let out a huge growl which was followed swiftly by the internal discomfort of not having eaten for an entire day. Aiko looked up slightly at the older girl, a pleading look in her black eyes. While holding her stomach Aiko let out a single word...

"Foood."

Rin watched with amusement as the younger girl's operating system was starting upon realising she had fallen asleep. Her constant looking around and where she looked along with her own clear confusion of the situation had told her all that she needed know how she ended up in the dirt. Amused by this unusual Tokiwadai girl, she wasn't entirely surprised. She isn't the first sort of girl from that prestigious middle school that wasn't trapped in the bubble.

Though Rin's eyes widened as she noticed a flicker of light and strange sensation affecting the hand with the stick. She would step back for a moment to the girl some space, though she admire what she just experienced. It was hard to tell what but that was clearly something rather interesting about this girl and Rin admires interesting abilities.

GROOOOOOWWWWWWLLLLLL

"Foood."

""Food?" Rin thought for a moment before remembering where she was originally heading and what followed was clearly not an innocent smile as she offered her hand. "Alright, I shall treat you at Joseph's Coffee and Resturant since it is not far and you can tell me all about yourself." She was going to grant the girl's request though it would come with a price and Rin Oda has always seemed to get whats owned in the end.

"Alright, I shall treat you at Joseph's Coffee and Resturant since it is not far and you can tell me all about yourself."

Aiko's ears cut out at "I shall treat you." she would follow anyone who offered her food. Aiko's eyes almost teared up at the prospect of food she was so hungry. Too hungry to stand up straight in fact as Aiko all but collapsed against the older girl in front of her. The older girl would be forced to half lead half carry her all the way to the restaurant, drawing some weird glances from some of the people walking down the street.

The restaurant was close by so in no time they were inside and seated awaiting someone to take their orders. Aiko didn't say another word in the entire time between the park and them sitting here, as if standing was taking up all her physical ability. While they were seated in the booth, Aiko's head lay flat against the table, that is, until a server finally came by and the older girl would realize the full extent of what she had promised.

"Hi, what will the two of you be having today?" Asked an unfortunate employee, unprepared for the barrage of an order that Aiko was about to unleash

Aiko's head shot straight off the table.

"I'll start off with one of everything, except I'm not a big fan of tomatoes so anything with cooked tomatoes can you take them off but raw tomatoes are fine. Also double the about of lettuce in all the salads and half the about of celery. For the pancakes, I'll have extra syrup on the side and on the french toast powder'd suger would be great. Of course for a drink I'll have some coffee along with a few glasses of water... I think that should be fine for now. What will you be having umm.... Oh I guess we haven't had introductions yet, I'm Aiko."

The employee stood there bewildered at the stream of information he had just been dumped on him.

As the younger girl gave her order, Rin was astonished by the barrage of requests though thinking about it this girl was just as bad as her younger brother. She only wondered if this girl can eat like an animal just like him. Table manners, that was something he needed to teach Taichi one day.

"I'll just have some toast and coffee." Rin gave a rather humble order and in some ways, you could tell the waiter appreciated it. Rin then turned to the young girl and acknowledged her attempt at an introduction. "Aiko?" Rin repeated thinking for a moment that sounded familiar and would take careful consideration before she introduced herself.

"Call me.. Rika." she answers as she tilted her head to the side, she was waiting for a reaction but not expecting too much. The name choice here wasn't important, though it was the tone that it was delivered. Rin gave no effort in pretending this was the truth and in a sense, it sounded so obvious it was a lie.

She had reasons not to give her true name, though Aiko maybe too hungry to even take note.

"It's going to take time.. for them to prepare your order. So what was that sensation I felt? A tingling feeling probably caused by.. electrons? Was that your ability?" Rin was very curious and seemed to be a rather innocent conversation to pass the time. Explaining it was the very least Aiko could do since her order was bound to be expensive considering her ravenous appetite.

"Call me.. Rika."

"Ah, Rika-Senpai then. Nice to meet you."

"It's going to take time.. for them to prepare your order. So what was that sensation I felt? A tingling feeling probably caused by.. electrons? Was that your ability?"

"Oh, did you notice that? Most people outside of electromasters don't notice. You must be really perceptive."

The look on Aiko's face changed as she got ready to explain her ability as if it was something she actively enjoyed doing. Enjoying it enough to momentarily distract her from her hunger at least.  

"Basically yeah, I use electrons to make a big shell around myself in the shape of a sphere, then I just shake those electrons so they interact with electromagnetic radiation trying to pass through to various effects. So I can do things like turn out the lights..." As Aiko was explaining her ability a familiar tingling feeling 'Rika' had felt before would again wash over her for a brief moment as the newly created shell expanded to encompass the two girls. Then as she finished the sentence the two of them were plunged into darkness, only for the total darkness to be illuminated by a small flashlight Aiko was holding under her chin as if she were telling a scary story.

"Or..." Aiko continued "I could use it to set a mood..."

Aiko turned off her flashlight briefly returning the two to darkness before letting light back into the area... but only red light giving the area the same vibe as some cheesy scene in a romance movie.

"Oh Rika, you look so beautiful tonight." Aiko exclaimed, clearly mimicking the dialogue of just such a movie before returning the light in there area to normal and moving on with her demonstration.

"Or I could do this," Nothing seemed to change about area. The lighting was normal and everything felt normal. "I just blocked out all the signals phones use to communicate. Go ahead, try and make a call or send a message, it won't work." Aiko seem particularly proud about that one as she waited for 'Rika' to pull out her phone.

Oda Rin had always been rather good at remembering details, and this was because she paid careful attention to what is being said and what occurs around them. From noticing the same flicker of light and the tingling sensation with her hand. She would then play along and pulled her phone out to confirm Aiko's words by attempting to send a message.

It didn't work.

The message didn't get sent as the signal that was usually phenomenal had completely vanished from her phone's radar.

"How interesting!" she spoke with a genuine smile, already thinking of ways she could use this girl. She finally pulled down her hood and leaned her head on her left hand while gazing towards Aiko. She had a thought, something gnawing at her mind since she revealed her name and only made worse as she explained her ability.

It wasn't the first time she heard about all this and that got her thinking. In her last mission, she was one of two bodyguards. She was chosen first be one of them and so was able to see the potential candidates for the second bodyguard to protect Tougane Masaru.

She was thinking that Aiko here was one of them.

"Hey. It's only a guess, but isn't your name Aoki Aiko? Yes, it makes sense now." Rin was sure of it.

"How interesting!"

"Isn't it." Aiko remarked.

It was at this point that the waiter from earlier returned to the table with the coffee and toast for 'Rika' and the first few of Aiko's many orders. As soon as the plates hit the table, Aiko was upon them. While the amount of food that she was able to take in was certainly impressive to say the least, what was equally as impressive was Aiko's ability to hold the utensils through her floppy sleeves and at the same time not spill a single drop of syrup or piece of food on said sleeves. She seemed so accustom to eating like this that one would think she'd never gone a day without sleeves like those.

"Hey. It's only a guess, but isn't your name Aoki Aiko? Yes, it makes sense now."

Huh, that's strange. This person knows my name already?

Aiko put down her utensils.

"Yeah, that's me. I'm sorry, have we met before? I don't usually forget a face so this is kind of embarrassing" Aiko said with a small laugh.

Aiko was pretty well known around Tokiwadai, but outside of there she wasn't any kind of house hold name or anything. Perhaps she'd done a job with this girl before? Be she still didn't recognize her, or her name.

Rin laughed with Aiko when she felt embarrassed about possibly forgetting her name. Though the look of confusion was rather a delight. Though to be clear they never met before in their life and she only knew this girl through reports. Yet the more she looked at this girl, the more plans were coming to her head.

"Kohai, you really think that you can enjoy a double life and no one would notice?" Rin spoke rather clearly and to the point, though it seemed to be like she was telling her off for doing something wrong. Though the use of the term 'kohai' basically was a way to lay claim to this girl. With just verbal speech alone this girl was now her property. "When you're in our line of work, you really need to be careful with who you're sitting down with and where you sleep." Rin continued whose tone seems to turn into one giving a lecture.

"Be thankful it's me who found you. Since the world we walk, our enemies would follow us all the way home if it means getting even. Though if you ask me, this could be an opportunity for us both." Rin explained further who have laid claim to the girl had no reason to explain how or why but what comes next.

"You can work with me and make some real money-" Rin spoke as she stood up and moved to stand besides where Aiko was sitting. She leaned closer before she continued. "Or you can explain why you have none for the bill." the moment those words left her mouth, she had already moved towards the exit.

There were precious seconds before Rin would be out the door and clearly this was a ploy to add pressure to her Kohai's decision.

"Kohai, you really think that you can enjoy a double life and no one would notice? When you're in our line of work, you really need to be careful with who you're sitting down with and where you sleep."

Aha, so that is how she knows me. If people I've never met from the dark side are recognizing me by name, maybe I'm a bit deeper in than I thought I was...

"Be thankful it's me who found you. Since the world we walk, our enemies would follow us all the way home if it means getting even.

While Aiko had yet to do anything that would warrant the kind of concern that 'Rika' was talking about, Aiko could immediately tell that 'Rika' was someone who had.  

Though if you ask me, this could be an opportunity for us both."

Oh ho, it seems like I'm about to receive a proposition.

"You can work with me and make some real money-"

Here it comes...

"Or you can explain why you have none for the bill."

As she said this 'Rika' was already moving towards the exit. Aiko took a second to look back at the table covered in food before hastily standing up and rushing over to grab Rika's arm. She didn't have enough money on her to cover the meal she was currently eating, let alone all the meals she had ordered. It may have been a simple matter to cause enough of a commotion with her ability to let her skip out on the bill, but Aiko wasn't really in the business of dodging payments, especially for food.

"Rika-sempai wait," Aiko said, holding Rika's arm with both her floppy sleeves. "Why not come sit back down and tell me about this job of yours." It was obvious to Aiko that for better or worse she would need to at least hear out her sempai.

"Ah! Kohai! What could it be?" Rin said mockingly as she was dragged back to the table. To be truthful she enjoyed watching her panic for that brief moment. It was a simple test, which confirmed that she was willing to play along and made her interest clear. For Rin, it had no risk for her since if she didn't stop her from leaving, then she would just simply carry on as originally planned.

"It's rather simple really, Rodney needs his money." Rin started to explain the details though it always felt there was more to it. Though giving reasons to why people borrowed money from this Rodney person wasn't exactly it. "For grand ideas, to pay debts or simply for gifts. Rodney always invests money in the people of this city."

So it was simply a case of easy lending and harsh repayment if sending Rin was any indication. "Rodney also appreciates those who do him favours and awards them handsomely. It's honest work and considering the sort of world we walk it, not really that dangerous if you know what you're doing." Rin said this knowing cornered individuals trying to escape the debtors often can get aggressive.

"And we have one of them we need to shake down right over there." Rin spoke gesturing towards the waitress that served them earlier. "So if you're interested, tell me how you would go about obtaining 65 thousand yen in one hour?" Rin asked while pointing out there was a total of three staff members and restaurant was mildly busy at best.

This was a challenge for the girl to explain in words how she would get the money from the waitress in the middle of the day. It was a thought exercise so there was no need to be concerned about actually acting on it.

"So if you're interested, tell me how you would go about obtaining 65 thousand yen in one hour?"

A test? Interesting.

"Hmmm, let me think..."

The two girls had returned to the booth while Aiko considered this task. A couple minutes past as Aiko considered the possible angles she could approach this problem from in between mouthfuls of food.

"Alright, here's what I would do." For the sake of her plan, Aiko had just assumed that the waitress had the money on her, otherwise there would be no way to get money from her. Aiko reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a laser pointer. "This is step one." She said, holding the laser pointer out in front of her.

Pointing the laser pointer at a napkin on the table in front of her, Aiko activated her ability and threw up a very small inferred field surrounding herself, keeping the napkin on the outside. Aiko clicked on the laser pointer and almost immediately the napkin burst into flames, which Aiko quickly doused with a bit of the water she had ordered earlier. "Using my ability I can amplify the intensity of this laser to the point where cloth like materials combust. First I would use this laser to light the waitress' pants on fire. In normal lighting you can't see the beam of the laser so there should be no way for them to notice where it came from. If there are any cameras around they can be dispatched in a similar manner beforehand, simply frying their circuitry or melting the glass on the lens to distort the picture. After that, either the waitress herself or the rest of the staff will quickly douse the flames, just as I did with the napkin, however that will leave her soaking wet. She'll most likely change into different clothes leaving behind the wet ones, any money she had on her, if it wasn't being kept in a purse to begin with. After that all we'd need to do is sneak into the break room and take it. The break room is located down the hall next to the bathroom and since there's so few employees here it's likely to be empty. I could simply walk over as if heading to the bathroom and quickly duck in. If there's a lock on the door I can burn through it in a few moments. This is a restaurant and the smell of something burning is nothing unusual so no one would notice. In and out in a flash and no one the wiser."

Aiko stretched after her long explanation. She'd left out a few of her little contingency plans and back up strategies she'd come up with just in case to make the explanation flow a bit better. Plus she didn't want to give away all her tricks. She sat back and awaited her sempai's response and continued working through her numerous breakfasts.

Rin has been drinking her coffee while Aiko explained her plan and when she placed that cup back down she did so with a smile.

"You know how frustrating it is to work with most people? They're so frustratingly arrogant that they tell you everything and I mean everything." Rin who seemed so annoyed about this quickly gulped the rest of her coffee and slammed it back on the table. "Secrets are what keep you alive and it seems you know this already. One thing that everyone doesn't know would be one thing they can't use against you. So I do applaud since you didn't tell me everything? Right? Am I right? You probably could've done that much easier in your thought exercise!" Rin spoke knowing very well when one was holding back and mostly because they were being arrogant about it.

Rin feeling so pleased she finally found someone like this would only give her a seductive smile. Though this only served as a distraction as she placed a key on the table.

"The problem with this girl is she rather slippery and hard to follow outside this restaurant. Which means the only practical way without wasting too much time is to strike here. You proved your character and now to back up your words. This key is a copy of the locker belonging to that waitress." Rin explained who had created the key the day before with the intention to hit this place today. Now that Aiko was here she could do it instead and this served to prevent Rin exposing herself.

"Obviously she doesn't have 65,000 yen on her person. So if you can get me her bank card, then I can get the money which is owned. I have a device which will do just that and here's the important part. Don't let her catch you taking it and don't let the service in this restaurant get stopped completely. Everything else goes and you can even use me to cause a distraction. Though obviously this is not a thought exercise and it would be different in reality." Rin continued to explain as she lends forward.

"Any questions? If not you can begin." Rin would ask while placing down a single photo onto the table.

In this one photo told a clear picture of the security in back. It was the picture of the main hallway, which leads from the front of the restaurant right next to the counter and maybe 2-3 cameras were spotted in the picture. It also showed someone senior was walking through it and a cleaning robot, which  Rin was kind enough to comment it would sound the alarm upon seeing those without a badge.

From this little information alone, Aiko would have to play it as it goes.

"Any questions? If not you can begin."

"I just need one favor. When I get to the bathroom, spill some food on the floor to attract the robot."

This was the real test, not just a mental exercise anymore. That fact that 'Rika' had put a stipulation that Aiko couldn't stop the normal operations of the restaurant made it so one of Aiko's back up plans was now impossible. Regardless it was time for Aiko to show her stuff. Before she started, Aiko waited a few minutes for someone to go into the single person bathroom at in the back near the break room. Once someone did, Aiko started her plan. Aiko created a small shell around herself and slipped her laser pointer out of her pocket. Instead of aiming at the glass, she decided to simply sever the video cables of the cameras, much cheaper to replace. So that she didn't effect anything she didn't want to with the laser she didn't change the makeup of the shell until after the laser was already poised to cut. The restaurant wasn't too large so she could see all cameras from where she was sitting, one by one they were dispatched, taking about 30 seconds each. Once all the cameras were down and Aiko looked around to make sure there weren't any left, she stood up from the booth and started walking over to the bathroom. When she got there she pretended to try the handle which was obviously locked. While pretending to stand by the bathroom waiting for it to open, Aiko looked back to see if 'Rika' had drawn the attention of the robot.

Rin nodded in agreement to her request and watched as the young girl moved into action. Though she would sneakily pull across one of the plates that Aiko didn't finish and thought about her request. She was elegant when she ate and had rather good table manners. It would be awfully out of character for her to cause a mess and so with a glance to the side she would see a group at the table nearby.

She would then casually point with one finger in their direction, keeping eye contact she would try to balance her movements and from a third perspective, it actually seemed as if she was just day-dreaming.

Though she clearly was up to something if the look in her eyes were of any indication.

A cut would be made, though where was the question as after a few seconds she withdrew her finger and nothing would happen? At first, the people on the table nearby would continue eating, though suddenly without warning it fell right through. The table fell to the ground taking all the plates and food with it which went everywhere causing a terrible mess.

It would seem from a naive perspective that the table had collapsed under the pressure of people eating on top of it.

Was it shoddy craftmanship? They weren't sure, but the truth was Rin's ability known as Selective Severing.

It was basically a telekinetic power that targeted shapes and not objects, though the difference here she didn't finish the cut. She made enough of a cut into the table to weaken its structure and then allowed the people to do the rest. Besides the fact, it would seem Aiko's plan would work out as the robot was a cleaning one and emerged quickly from the staff door towards the disaster zone caused by Rin.


.

Perfect timing, 'Rika' truly was a professional. The table across from theirs had collapsed and spilled food all over the floor. What she had done to make the table fall Aiko didn't know, but she assumed it must have something to do with an esper ability of some kind. However that was something to look into later, now there was a mission to do. The staff room door next to where Aiko was waiting opened up and the cleaning robot zipped out. Before the door managed to close behind it, Aiko quickly put her foot in the way to stop it from closing, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and slipped into the room. Before Aiko entered the room, she switched the personal shell she still had up to one that would block light, effectively making Aiko look like a 5'2" void of blackness. This was just in case there was an extra camera in the staff room.

Aiko stood in the doorway and looked around the room. It looked as if there was one more camera inside the room hanging right above the doorway facing inward. She was lucky, since she was directly underneath it she could disable it like she did the others without it seeing her. Other then camera, which Aiko dealt with swiftly like the others, the room was free of people and obstacles. Aiko had lucked out on that front too. If there had been another person in the room, then Aiko might have had to take some emergency measures.

Aiko spied the small row of lockers against the left wall of the room and pulled out the key that 'Rika' had given her. Now lets see which of these lockers is the winner. Aiko went down the row trying each one until locker number 4 clicked open. Inside the locker was about what you would expect. A change of clothes, an umbrella, and a small purse hanging from a hook. Bingo. Aiko grabbed the purse from the hook and pulled out the wallet, digging around a bit before pulling out the back card. Aiko quickly tucked the card into her skirt pocket with a smirk before quickly and quietly re-locking the locker and slipping out of the room. As she walked back to the table where 'Rika' was waiting for her, sliding back into the booth and placing the back card onto the table, the cleaning robot zipped back into the staff room.

"Mission Complete."

While Aiko was helping Rin to commit fraud by retrieving the poor waitresses' card, she was having a wonderful time watching the show which she caused. While it didn't stop the restaurant from moving with its functions, the problem had led to an argumentive exchange between the customers and the staff who had to call upon their manager.

Watching others squabble over mundane matters truly did tickle her funny bone. To the point, she didn't immediately turn towards Aiko when she returned to the table. Though her gaze fell solely on the waitress who was their target.

"She's hardworking and honest. Though she decided that because she didn't get the weekly invoice that she will withhold on the money? So she can rediscuss terms? Once you sign an agreement there is no renegotiation. You pay back what is owned." Rin spoke giving more context behind this target. When she was finished she would reach beneath her hoodie and pull out a small chip device and placed it on the table behind the menu display so no onlookers would notice it.

"I would normally correct their errors with a direct approach, but for this girl, I shall just do something else." Rin mentioned while taking the card placed on the table and inserting into the machine. It would light up briefly showing numerous numbers on its small screen, briefly displaying an account balancing numbering into hundreds of thousands of Yen.

It would then drain quickly to zero.

Basically, instead of taking what was owned, Rin took interest for the girl's misstep and took every penny. She would then take the card out and place it back on the table before pointing at it with her finger. With each passing second, small cuts in the form of shapes would rip through the card turning it into little pieces of plastic.

At this point, it was unrecognisable and seemed like the shape of sprinkles in comparison to which she would sprinkle over the finished plates.

"Now! Let me reintroduce myself! My name is Oda Rin and I feel like we can achieve an effective partnership. Don't you think?" she asked with a soft smile seeming rather innocent in her expression and voice.

Aiko watched as the bank card was shredded to pieces as 'Rika' pointed at it. This must have been her ability, it looks like she could have likely used this to break the table as well.

"Now! Let me reintroduce myself! My name is Oda Rin and I feel like we can achieve an effective partnership. Don't you think?"

"Eh, you gave me a fake name before... Well it's too late for a new name in my head. You will now be Rika-chan forever. By the way, what did you just do to that card? Is that the same thing you did to the table? Also what kind of partnership did you have in mind?"

Aiko fired off these questions right in rapid succession, eager to here what Rika had to say.

"Rika? I guess that works better if you call me that and would save me the trouble of keeping you quiet." Rin spoke now seeing more value in giving a fake name than originally. She would also consider the girl's request about her ability.

There was pros and cons to being so honest about what she could do, though it wouldn't actually hurt her in this situation. She has already shown the power to the girl and so attaching words to that visual presentation wouldn't change anything.

"Selective Severing. A telekinetic power that works just like the standard, the only difference is that I target shapes and not objects. " Rin explained while pointing to the napkin on the table. It would take three seconds for her power to cut it, creating a perfect square shape into the napkin and moved that part alone in the air. This left what remains of the napkin on the table with a square hole.

"It does seem rather restrictive compared to the standard telekinesis, though when you know what you're doing any ability could be far more potent and useful." Rin had explained while turning her hand slightly to the left had caused smaller rapid cuts into the napkin tearing it to shreds just like the card.

She handled her ability with such finesse it was like second nature, though there seems to be a heavy sense of wisdom behind her words. Oda Rin knew that she couldn't always rely on her power and actually relied on her physical abilities more than it. She sees her esper powers as something to compliment her own prowess and not the other way round like the average esper.

She also wasn't going to tell her everything and stuck with the bare minimum of her repertoire.

"There are four jobs in a similar fashion I need to be done today and probably could do it much faster with your assistance. This means you should tell me your price? What is your usual rate?" She asked who could try to blackmail her further, but actually, want to show some professional conduct.

Hmmm, that seems like an interesting ability...

"There are four jobs in a similar fashion I need to be done today and probably could do it much faster with your assistance. This means you should tell me your price? What is your usual rate?"

It seemed like Rika was impressed enough that she wanted to team up.

"My usual rate huh, well that really depends on how hungry I am..." Aiko's voice trailed off for a bit as if she was lost in though. She was considering the amount of food a few jobs were worth. "Hey tell you what. If you wanna keep working together how about you just cover my food expenses. That's what I put most of the money I make towards anyways. I'll just save my receipts."

Aiko looked down that the plethora of plates on the table in front of her then back up at Rika

"Heh heh, this isn't the amount I normally eat... I just... hadn't eaten in a while."

"Cover your food expenses?" Rin questioned while glancing towards the pile of plates that reached the heights of anime character's ravenous hunger. She had thought with a slight worry, that giving her a proper wage would probably be cheaper though her mention of this not being normal had given her some reassurance.

"Well that is a very unique ask." Rin thought before continuing. "I accept and this partnership is likely to be interesting." She confirmed the agreement of the partnership while noticing the waitress was indicating to the cashier she was going on a break.

While there was nothing to be concerned about she thought it would be best to leave anyway, staying in one place too long never sat right with Rin.

"Let's go." she spoke as she would pay the bill before leading Aiko out of the restaurant just as the waitress left to go on break. They wouldn't go too far and actually would retrace their steps towards the park they first met each other. Rin seemed to be more on guard now out and about again, she watched her routes carefully and made sure no one was fulling them.

You could call it paranoia, but it was simply habit.

She no longer was considered alive, though there was still no sense of safety for Rin to let her guard down. Even when she led Aiko through the park, they walked off the public pathway and went towards the edge under the cover of trees. Rin choose a spot that made them impossible to see from within the park and hard to see from outside.

It was only hard to see from the outside since she needs to observe a potential target and would be fruitless if she was in a position where she couldn't gaze towards the correct location. Her eyes would be looking towards a certain alleyway between two of the many shops in district 15. She knew from habit alone that who she was after would use that alleyway to get to this location so it was only a matter of time.

Rin had made a point to take note of all the habits of her patrons and quickly checked her phone for the time.

10:14am

This clearly indicated she was waiting for the right moment. Though her curiosity was as dangerous as a cat and slightly glared to her new partner.

"So tell me. What got you into this line of work in the first place?" she asked while not hiding this was a conversation to past the time as she returned her focus on the alleyway.

"So tell me. What got you into this line of work in the first place?"

"Hmmm.... Curiosity mostly. When I first came to this city, I spent so much time just wandering around the streets. I was younger then so I mostly stuck to the safest parts of the city. While aimlessly walking about I met a lot of people. Some of those people needed help with things and I liked helping people so I'd lend a hand. Kept this whole pattern up for the next few years and I wound up here. At some point I started helping out some people belonging to the dark side which lead me to lending a hand more and more..."

Aiko reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a small piece of paper.

"And that's how I became known as 'The Helpful Wanderer Aoki Aiko!' "

Aiko handed the piece of paper she had pulled out to Rika with a goofy grin. The piece of paper was actually the square Rika had cut out of a napkin with her ability earlier, just folded in half to be about the size of a business card with 'Aoki Aiko - Helpful Wanderer' scribbled on it in pen.

Taking the make shift business card there was a slight chuckle, the girl had thought she hadn't noticed her taking that showing this girl had skill. She was impressed. The very least she was able to escape her notice and she admires that even if the act was small.

"Alright Helpful Wanderer; there might be something you could do to help." Rin spoke while having kept an eye on that same alleyway. At that moment she had noticed a few teens enter that same alleyway, three of them had hoods up and was hard to see their identity and they were with two girls who didn't seem to hide their identity.

The girls weren't important since her target was a male individual. Making her assume that the ones who hid their identity were her target. Though it was strange to her that they were wearing hoods on a warm day and thought something was up. She was a cat with a mean streak, but her curiosity was bitting and so she had to know more.

"Say? Can you move well with your ability active? There is a meeting we need to crash over there and we can't be seen or the bastard would know something is up." Rin mentioned while gesturing to that same dirty alleyway they've been keeping an eye on.

"Or would I need to Princess carry you?" Rin said turning her full attention to Aiko who seemed willing to carry her regardless the answer she would give her partner in crime.